


grief is like an ocean

by prettylittlepasha



Category: Guild Wars
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, Grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4366592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettylittlepasha/pseuds/prettylittlepasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Veredara learns what it is to lose someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. it's a sinking feeling

Veredara’s hands start shaking while she’s in the middle of wrapping bandages around the cracked ribs of one of the Lionguard. She feels a hand on her shoulder and looks up at the man she’s been treating to see a sad sympathetic smile on his face.

She tries to smile back, but the muscles in her face don’t want to cooperate. After she helps him to lie back comfortably she leaves.

The shaking has spread through the rest of her body as she makes her way to the back of the ship where she can still see Claw Island in the distance.

The strength leaves her body and she crumbles to the deck, clutches the bars of the railing and stares at the disappearing image of the place where her big brother died.

A strangled sob escapes Veredara’s throat and she clamps a hand over her mouth. She can hear someone coming up behind her and it wouldn’t do for any of the troops to see her like this.

But it’s not one of the Lionguard troops, it’s Trahearne. He must have seen her leave the makeshift healers rooms and come to bring her back to work. She tries and barely succeeds to take a deep breath and makes to get up, but a heavy hand on her shoulder stays her.

Trahearne’s eyes are sad as he sits next to her, she can feel the pain and sorrow for the lost coming off of him in waves and then she remembers. Tybalt was his friend too; another sob breaks past her lips and Veredara rests her head on his chest and she clings to him.

His arms wrap around her shoulders and she cries. She cries harder than she ever has in her short life.


	2. the deepest depths are black

He finds her sitting on the floor in the hold of the ship with a large water basin in front of her. Her armor is in a pile next to her and he can see her pouring something dark into the basin.

Trahearne clears his throat loudly. Veredara’s head snaps up but she doesn’t turn around to look at him.

He comes into the room and sits next to her. The water in the basin is black. He glances at her to see her holding one of her gloves in a tight grip.

He places a careful hand on her shoulder and asks, “Ve, what is all this?”

She leans into his touch and sighs. “Humans have a tradition. When someone dies, and they are in mourning, they wear black. We don’t have mourning traditions yet, and all I know of the charr mourning traditions in a situation like this is to avenge the fallen. I plan to do that, but I want something tangible too.”

Trahearne takes a deep breath and thinks quickly. The pain and grief rolls off of Veredara makes him realize, this is the first time she’s ever lost anyone. He remembers the pain of their first loss, he remembers the grief that losing Riannoc caused.

He squeezes her shoulder before reaching across her to grab the other glove. “Let me help you,”


	3. gotta keep your head above water

Veredara has been to the Black Citadel before, but it feels so  _different_ now.

The Plaza of Remembrance is silent in the fading light of the setting sun, and no one else is at the monument this evening.

Veredara takes a steadying breath and kneels before the monument to place her candle amongst the others. She runs a hand over the wax lets the tension drain from her body slowly. She draws a finger over the tip of the wick and it sparks to life.

She takes a moment to read over some of the names on the wall, to count the candles that still remain, and the piles of melted wax. So many dead, so many commemorated by those that love them.

A small smile breaks across her face as she says, “Hello, Tybalt. I’m sorry I haven’t come sooner, but after Claw Island there was too much to do to take time to come and light a candle for you.

“You wouldn’t believe all that’s happened since then. The Chantry was  _attacked_ by risen and we had to fight them off until we could activate some of the defenses you’d installed just in case—thank you for those by the way. You would have been so proud of Demmi, she’s so brilliant and stepped right into fixing things. She’s going to go far Tybalt.

“The Orders actually came together to take back the island, and we killed that bastard dragon spawn. It was amazing, Whisper Agents and Priory Scholars and Vigil Warmasters fighting side by side,  _together_ for the first time ages. Trahearne led us all into the battle; we’ve formed a Pact now to fight our way into Orr and kill Zhaitan. We’ll be able to do it Tybalt, we will, I can feel it. So long as we all stay together we can win.”

Her smile cracks as her breath hitches and a tear comes to her eye. She thought she’d cried herself dry on the ship back after Tybalt’s death, but it would appear she had one more tear to shed.

“I wish you could have been with us Tybalt, you would have been so proud to see it. I-I miss you, every day. But my time for mourning is over, I want to celebrate your life from now on.”

Veredara stands slowly and kisses the tips of fingers before placing them gently on the wall of names before leaving.


End file.
